What's The Most Beautiful Word In The English Language?

What's the most beautiful word in the English language? Different
people, using various criteria, will give a slew of answers.

Surveying more than 7,000 English speakers in 46 countries, the
British Council decided on "mother"
— an unglamorous word, yet one that conveys comfort and the
deepness of human relationships. Others on their list include
concepts, like "liberty" and "tranquility," or expressions, as in
"smile."

But then we have phonoasthetics
to consider. Ignoring public opinion, phonoasthetics combines the
study of sound and phonology to determine the most pleasing words
apart from their meaning. Author J.R.R. Tolkien
famously (although
not first) claimed "cellar door" wins that title. The cult
classic "Donnie Darko"
even gave his theory a shout-out.

Close your eyes (which might help
block semantic function) and say it — slowly. Cellar
door. Somehow, kind of lovely, right? “I was astonished when
someone first showed that by writing 'cellar door' as
Selladore, one produces an enchanting proper name,"
C. S. Lewis wrote in 1963.

Robert Beard, a
former linguistics professor at Bucknell University, also created
his own list of beautiful words. Through careful research, he
determined
100 English words that people seem to like most though may
not use frequently. Some eccentric yet notable words include
ailurophile,
inglenook,
and Susquehanna.

While you might consider these words beautiful without knowing
what they mean, linguist
David Crystal says
it's impossible to separate sounds entirely from their
meaning. Words with positive connotations, like birds and
flowers, naturally make us happy, while darker words, like
"peril," instill less positive feelings.

But even Crystal can't deny some patterns appear based just on
sound; humans simply find some sounds more pleasing than others.
By analyzing the consonant and vowel sounds that appear in
language the most and least frequently, Crystal created certain
criteria that compose the most beautiful words.

DavidCrystal.com

For example, the word "tremulous" fits every category. The word
contains more than three syllables, with the stress on the first.
It uses "m" and "l" — letters we seem to enjoy pronouncing. It
uses other consonants that appear in English with high frequency
but eliminates those with low frequency. It also uses only short
vowels, articulated in a mid or low position, in the front of the
mouth.

The chart also gives examples of other nice words.

Despite these trends, personal preferences also play into whether
"mother" sounds more beautiful than "cellar door," "inglenook,"
and "tremulous."